STATE SERVICES RESEARCH CAPACITY - BUILDING A STATE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MENTAL-HEALTH-SERVICES RESEARCH

State mental health agencies in the United States manage increasingly larger and complex systems of care. This requires an increasingly soph isticated workforce and decision support infrastructure. However. with the exception of larger states with their own research and evaluation offices, few states have the necessary resources to develop these imp ortant elements. Bringing in talent from academic organizations who ha ve research as a priority may be the preferred direction for many stat es. The unique approach developed in South Carolina is the first syste matic collaboration between a state mental health system and a multi-i nstitutional, interdisciplinary academic group oriented towards develo ping a comprehensive, statewide infrastructure for policy-relevant men tal health services research.